Viðurkenna ábyrgð á Christie - Snúa út úr með AGS

Bresk yfirvöld viðurkenna ábyrgð breskra yfirvalda í málefnum Christies-spítalans sem geymdi fé sitt í sjóðum Kaupþings Singer & Friedland sem heyrði undir breska fjármálaeftirlitið. Þetta kemur fram í svörum þeirra vegna fyrirspurnar fréttastofu Stöðvar 2.

Varðandi ummæli um aðkomu IMF í samningaviðvæðurm um Icesave þá víkur forsætiráðuneytið sér undan svörum og vísar í stuðning breskra yfirvalda við samkomulagið sem íslenska ríkið gerði við sjóðinn á sínum tíma. Þá segir jafnframt að Bretar séu enn að semja við íslensk yfirvöld um smáatriði varðandi Icesave reikningana og einbeittur vilji sé fyrir að leysa það mál.

Hér fyrir neðan má finna spurningar Guðjóns Helgasonar fréttamanns og svo yfirlýsingu Breta:

Gudjon Helgason here from Channel 2 News Iceland in follow up to our phone conversation. Here are 2 questions in connection to the answer Prime Minister Gordon Brown gave to MP Graham Brady in the House of Commons on Wednesday.

In a question from mr. Brady on the loss of depostis from Christie hospial in Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander the Prime Minister said that „the fact is we are not the regulatory authority". Did the PM mislead the House of Commens in the matter in light of the fact that Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander was a UK subsidiary of Kaupthing Iceland and therefore regulated by the FSA in the UK and covered by the UK depositor protection scheme and the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS)?

Does the UK government believe that the Icelandic government should cover losses incurred by the fall of Kaupthing bank even though Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander was in fact regulated by the FSA in the UK and covered by the UK depositor protection scheme and the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS)?

In his answer the Prime Minister says: „...we are in negotiations with the International Monetary Fund and other organisations about the rate at which Iceland can repay the losses that they are responsible for." What kind of negotiations is the Prime Minister refering to and with whom in addition to the IMF? Also is the UK government exerting pressure in this matter with regards for example the IMF loan to Iceland and its delivery and also possible discussion on EU membership for Iceland?

Does the Prime Minister see the Icesave matter and Iceland banking crash as harming relations between the two countries?

Also I undrstand the Icelandic government has requested a formal decleration on this matter from the UK government - would that be forthcoming today?

Best wishes,

Gudjon.

Statement regarding discussions in UK Parliamentary Questions regarding Icelandic Banks

In answering the question, the Prime Minister gave a summary of bilateral and multilateral engagement with Iceland with regard to resolving the financial crisis and settling outstanding debt to the UK. Initially, he referred to the individual case of Christie Hospital, and then went on to talk about the broader situation.

He acknowledged that the UK was not the regulatory authority with regard to the situation of "many, many people who had their finances in institutions governed by the Icelandic authorities". This was not a comment which directly referred to the individual case of Christie, but a broader reference to the situation concerning regulatory responsibility, which lies with Iceland. We acknowledge that the FSA has responsibility with regard to Kaupthing Singer Friedlander, as a UK subsidiary.

He pointed out that it was the responsibility of the Icelandic authorities to pay up for the losses they were responsible for.

He then made a reference to IMF negotiations. This is a reference to the IMF funding programme for Iceland.

The UK was fully supportive of Iceland's IMF programme and welcomed the commitment given by Iceland in November to enter into a loan arrangement with the UK to repay Icesave depositors. The UK is still in negotiations with Iceland over details of the Icesave loan and is committed to resolving this issue.